My wife and I had only been married since August,1976. We started out in an upstairs flat in Kenmore. It was just the right size for the two of us.

There were a couple of problems though; the gas bill for December was over $350.00 (Yeah, in 1976. We were able to determine that the landlady kept her heat turned down and just sucked up what ever heat we could provide.), and apparently, when we weren't home, our busy-body old landlady would let herself in and look around. (That's a whole other story!)

So, we found a place out in Amherst and were getting ready to move.....on January 28, 1977. We had the hardest time trying to find a U-Haul to rent. Seems everyone was thinking there was a big storm coming in. "C'mon, how bad could it get?" Luckily, there was a vendor out near where we were moving, and my wife gave him a sob story that worked.

We spent all of the 27th loading up the truck. It's a good thing we were able to leave it and my Pinto in the driveway. None of that snow had to be shoveled. The rest of the driveway was a mess, with no less than 2 1/2 feet of snow leading up to an 8 foot drift across the garage door. When I piled it up in front of the other half of the garage, our "lovely" landlady came out and started complaining. Oh, well. She got the rest of the driveway shoveled for free. What does she have to complain about? Certainly not HER heating bill!

As I stated, we lived in Kenmore. And, those of you that know Kenmore, the Village plows were continuously on the road, hour after hour, during the storm. The streets were completely clear and already salted down to bare pavement. Driving in the Village with the rental was not a problem. But, once we got to the Town of Tonawanda and the into Amherst, it was a different story.

The ruts in the snow and ice on Sheridan were 8 to 10 inches deep. It's a good thing there wasn't anyone else on the road that morning. At times, the truck would start moving sideways on its own. Stopping was not possible. I even remember seeing a Town of Tonawanda Police officer just watching us slide through an intersection nearly sideways. He didn't come after us. He just shook his head.

We got the truck unloaded and returned it to the vendor. He said he was going to meet us at the store, but he never made it out of his driveway at home.

When I got back to our new apartment, the phone rang and it was my boss. He wondered if I was going to be able to make it into work. (WHAT!?) At the time, I was employed by Tops Markets at Hertel and Elmwood.

Apparently, the store hadn't closed and customers were walking in, buying anything they could find. A lot of the employees that were scheduled to work were having a hard time making it in.

My dad had helped move us, so he said he would take me in. As I said, I only had a Pinto, but he had a big old Galaxie 500, able to plow through anything.

Getting back to Kenmore was not a problem. Driving down Elmwood from Sheridan was a breeze. But, once we hit the City line at Kenmore, it was another world. It didn't look like a plow had been there at all. He was able to eventually get to Hinman and Elmwood, but then the fun began.

If you can remember, there used to be a Twin Fair just south of Hinman. And on the other side of Elmwood was a huge industrial plant; big square building that went back a couple 1000 feet, WITH A BIG FLAT ROOF! All the snow that didn't stay on the roof was now on Elmwood. There was a drift that started at the warehouse and stretched all the way across Elmwood into the Twin Fair parking lot.......10 FEET HIGH!. There were cars and trucks buried under it.

My dad took a chance and drove into the Twin Fair parking lot. By driving almost to the front of the building, he was able to get around "the drift" and out the other side. But, what lie ahead? More abandoned vehicles and a bus or two, that's all. At least there wasn't another "beast drift".

We made to Tops and this parking lot was just as bad. Nothing but buried cars. Yet, people were walking to and from the store. The entire front of the store was coated with snow. The foyer, with its heater and grated floor, had a drift going all the way into one corner. The evidence of snow didn't stop until you were 5-10 feet INSIDE the heated building. There was almost nothing left on the shelves; bread, milk, eggs, produce.....gone. Canned goods were almost all wiped out. Even toilet paper was down to singles.

Luckily, I was able to bargain with the store manager. I would stay to try to refill the shelves, but after 6 hours I was leaving. But, I would come back to help, and I did.

It was 3 days before a tractor-trailer was able to make a delivery. By then, the store, including the back store room, was nearly empty. And, it would take another 4 trailers and 5 days before the shelves were filled again. Fresh produce didn't show up for a week.